~ Call for Submissions: Poems About Work ~
The Book of Jobs: An Anthology of Poems About Work (Online)
Submission Window: April 13—July 12, 2025
Editor: Erin Murphy
Publisher: ONE ART: a journal of poetry
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Call for Submissions: Poems About Work
The Book of Jobs: An Anthology of Poems About Work (Online)
How to Submit: Email up to three poems of (up to 150 lines each) in the body of an email to:
oneartworkpoems [at] gmail [dot] com
Please also include a 3rd-person bio of up to 50 words.
Submission Window: April 13—July 12, 2025
Anticipated anthology publication date: Fall 2025
Fee/payment: No submission fee. Contributors to receive a $10 honorarium per accepted poem (thanks to a donation from an anonymous donor). The anthology will be available online at no cost to readers.
Requirements: Previously unpublished poems are preferred (though it’s fine if you have shared them on personal sites, including social media). We will consider poems that have been published in literary journals if the rights have reverted to the poet; please indicate this in your submission. Simultaneous submissions are permitted; please reply to your own emailed submission to let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere.
What We’re Looking For:
• Poems about all types of labor (industrial, agricultural, corporate, healthcare, domestic, creative, hospitality, caregiving, education, sports, and other fields of work).
• A variety of styles: narrative, persona, documentary, formal, experimental, erasure, cento, abecedarian, prose poems, etc.
• Serious poems, funny poems, seriously funny poems
• While we welcome poems about your own work experiences, we hope you’ll also consider submitting poems about the work of others, including family members, historical figures, or people you’ve observed, interviewed, or researched.
Sample work poems we admire:
“What Work Is” by Philip Levine
“Invisible Work” by Kwoya Fagin Maples
“Taking It Home to Jerome” by David Kirby
“Night Waitress” by Linda Hull
“Shirt” by Robert Pinsky
We’re looking forward to reading your work about work!
With all best wishes,
Erin Murphy
Editor, The Book of Jobs: An Anthology of Poems About Work
Publisher: ONE ART: a journal of poetry
